Indians' Antonetti 'really encouraged' by Donaldson's rehab assignment

To bolster their playoff-bound team, the Cleveland Indians acquired Josh Donaldson, who hasn't played a game at the major-league level since May 28 due to injury. However, the club saw promise during his rehab stint with the Toronto Blue Jays before brokering a trade.

The Indians sent scouts to watch Donaldson rehab this past week in Dunedin, and president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said the club was "really encouraged by what (they) saw."

Since late May, Donaldson has been sidelined with a calf injury after nursing a shoulder injury earlier in the year as well. Held to 36 injury-hampered games this season, the third baseman owns a .757 OPS.

After acquiring Donaldson late Friday night, in the final moments before the deadline to add playoff-eligible players to the roster, Antonetti said that Donaldson would be activated off of the disabled list for Saturday and come to Cleveland to be assessed, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. However, the president of baseball ops added that the club has not ruled out placing Donaldson back on the DL in order to send him to the minor leagues to get regular reps before stepping into the major-league lineup.

Donaldson, the 2015 American League Most Valuable Player, will join the Indians' current MVP candidate Jose Ramirez, who also already plays third base. In all likelihood, with the addition of Donaldson, Ramirez will slide to second base, while Jason Kipnis - in the midst of one of the worst offensive campaigns of his career - would help in Cleveland's beleaguered outfield.